Chapter 279: Decapitation

Jiang Qing'e's strike was like a brilliant sun descending upon the world, incomparably dazzling, and thus the many gazes within the stronghold could not help but be drawn to it.

The expressions of Duze Honglian, Qiu Bai, Tian Tian, and the others shifted slightly; first, they were shocked by the chilling momentum of Jiang Qing'e's strike, and second, they were shocked that she had taken the initiative to attack the Smiling Demon directly.

That was a Great Disaster-class Other, an existence comparable to the peak of the Heavenly Dipper General stage!

Even if Jiang Qing'e's Ninth-grade Light Resonance was tyrannical, it was impossible to cross ranks to defeat an enemy!

If her strike failed to achieve results, she would certainly be countered by the Smiling Demon, and once Jiang Qing'e was crushed, it would be a massive blow to their side's strength and morale.

However, at a time like this, Jiang Qing'e was already an arrow released from the string, so any of their worries were useless; they could only steel their hearts and stare fixedly at that streak of brilliant sun flashing across the horizon.

But it must be said, although they did not know what the outcome of Jiang Qing'e's preemptive strike would be, this move of hers caused the morale within the stronghold to surge.

All gazes were cast toward her.

Li Luo was also watching; that wheel of brilliant sun breaking through the air was so dazzling it stung the eyes, and that slender, elegant figure gave off a sense of vast, overbearing power.

The azure short cape fluttering in the wind was valiant and sharp.

Clang!

Amidst the crisp sound of a sword being drawn, a glaze-like radiance seemed to bloom upon Jiang Qing'e's slender, delicate body, making her already flawless, jade-like skin appear even clearer and unstained by dust.

Behind her, Duze Honglian, Qiu Bai, and the others had their pupils shrink.

"Glazed-color Evil Body... this is the completion of the Evil Body stage..."

"What a fast cultivation speed!"

Other students might not understand what the glazed radiance emanating from Jiang Qing'e's body represented, but as Earth Evil General stage cultivators themselves, they knew it very clearly.

It represented that Jiang Qing'e's physique, under the tempering of Earth Evil Qi, was nearing completion.

This meant that the current Jiang Qing'e was only a single step away from the Heavenly Dipper General stage.

Duze Honglian's eyes were somewhat complex; no wonder there were rumors that Jiang Qing'e would challenge the Seven Star Pillars at the end of the year. It turned out she was already so close to the Heavenly Dipper General stage, while they had only just entered the first stage of the Earth Evil General stage.

The speed of Jiang Qing'e's progress was even faster than they had imagined.

Such talent truly made those who wanted to catch up to her feel powerless; was a Ninth-grade Light Resonance really this tyrannical?

Hum!

The scorching, divine-sun-like sword edge whistled down, and a deep chasm appeared silently in the earth beneath her feet; the sides of the chasm were smooth as mirrors, and blue smoke rose, bringing with it a scorching high temperature.

The Divine Sun sword edge was reflected in the Smiling Demon's crimson pupils; at this moment, it did not dodge, but the eerie smile on its face seemed to grow even deeper.

Jie!

It even let out an eerie laugh at this moment.

It did not seem too surprised by Jiang Qing'e's sudden raid.

Jiang Qing'e also sensed it, her eyes flickering slightly; was this Smiling Demon deliberately revealing a flaw to lure her into attacking?

Truly cunning and vicious.

Even though it was an Other, its complex and cold-blooded mind was even more so than a human's.

Yet at such a time, Jiang Qing'e did not show any panic; her expression remained unmoved, and the Light Resonance power surging on the sword edge became even sharper and more tyrannical.

Haa!

The Smiling Demon opened its mouth, which was filled with black sharp thorns, as if taking a heavy breath.

Boom boom!

Then, the next instant, the mud figures on the nearby mud platforms vibrated slightly, and rolling black smoke emerged from within the mud figures, rapidly pouring into the Smiling Demon's body.

The power that had previously weakened instantly climbed back up.

But at the same time, inside the stronghold, Li Luo and the others all discovered that the power of those who had been contaminated was rapidly weakening; clearly, those amplified powers were being drained away.

And it was not just that; what was being drained also included the power that originally belonged to them.

"Seize the opportunity, bind and suppress all the contaminated ones!" Li Luo roared; this was the opportunity Jiang Qing'e had risked her life to win for them.

Everyone responded in unison and launched their attacks, their powerful Resonance energy offensives quickly submerging the contaminated ones.

But outside the stronghold, the Smiling Demon's power was rapidly recovering, and at the same time, it shrieked, the sound waves like wild waves, shaking the void.

It struck out with a palm, and under that palm, it was as if darkness covered the heavens and earth; it was clearly just an ordinary palm, yet it made people feel as if the world had been covered by it.

Under the darkness, everything was destroyed.

And within the darkness, only that Divine Sun sword continued to bloom with light, driving away the darkness as it slashed down fiercely.

Sword and palm collided violently.

Boom!

A shocking energy impact erupted at this moment; with Jiang Qing'e and the Smiling Demon as the center, the ground was peeled away layer by layer, and the pervasive black mist was completely shredded.

Those other Others that were close by were directly shaken into wisps of black gas.

Inside the stronghold, many gazes looked at the source of the violent energy impact, but their expressions changed, because they could all see that the Divine Sun sword beam was being pinched, bit by bit, by that hand of darkness, causing cracks to appear.

Clearly, there was still an undeniable gap between Jiang Qing'e's power and that of the Smiling Demon.

"Jie jie! Gu gu!"

The Smiling Demon let out a harsh laugh, and then its black palm suddenly clenched; accompanied by a cracking sound, that scorching and tyrannical Divine Sun sword beam shattered instantly.

"Captain, retreat quickly!" Qiu Bai and Tian Tian turned pale and shouted.

Li Luo's gaze was fixed on Jiang Qing'e's figure, his hands gripping his twin blades trembling slightly; he resisted the urge to rush out, because he knew that with his strength, rushing out would only make him a burden to Jiang Qing'e.

Inside the stronghold, cries of alarm were constant.

But unexpectedly, Jiang Qing'e did not retreat; her golden pupils reflected the shattered Divine Sun sword beam, and her face remained calm, as if this scene was also within her expectations.

This sword could not injure a Great Disaster-class Smiling Demon.

Thus, she stepped forward instead of retreating.

She extended her slender palm and suddenly wiped it across the sword edge.

Crimson blood sprayed out and landed on the sword beam.

In that instant, the shattering of the sword beam suddenly intensified, as if an extremely scorching aura was rising from the broken sword beam; that holy aura caused the eerie, exaggerated smile on the Smiling Demon's face to stall.

Immediately, it struck out with a palm toward Jiang Qing'e.

Between its palms, shocking Evil Thought power compressed and condensed, as if forming a black vortex capable of swallowing and submerging any attack.

Jiang Qing'e took a deep breath, as if golden currents were flowing through her nostrils; she closed her eyes slightly, reached out her slender jade hand, and plunged it into the shattered sword beam, suddenly grabbing a light feather that seemed to be burning with flames.

"Flame Saint Feather, all things are unclean; burn and purify them."

On Jiang Qing'e's delicate body, flames rose that were so tyrannical they were terrifying; those flames were so holy, as if they could burn away all the filth in the world.

The light feather swept down like sword light.

It actually bypassed the Smiling Demon's attack and slashed directly toward its face.

What a fierce posture of fighting with one's life.

Between the two options of preserving herself and killing the enemy, Jiang Qing'e chose the latter.

This choice of Jiang Qing'e's clearly took the Smiling Demon by great surprise, but it was too late to defend; in the end, it could only watch helplessly as that light feather, burning with holy flames, slashed down like sword light.

The moment its palm struck Jiang Qing'e, that light feather also slashed across its eerie smiling face.

Inside the stronghold, all gazes watched this scene, and time seemed to freeze in this instant.